


Candles and Crystals

by Whale_shark_prince



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Witchcraft, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Dark Magic, Fluff, Gen, Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Green Magic, Hunk & Lance (Voltron) Friendship, I'm Bad At Tagging, Keith (Voltron) is a Mess, M/M, Necromancy ? maybe a bit, Shapeshifter, Socially Awkward Keith (Voltron), Sorcerers, Werewolf Shiro (Voltron), Witch AU, Witch Keith (Voltron), Witch Lance (Voltron), Witchcraft, Yellow Lion (Voltron) - Freeform, because hes a badass, burns/ burn scars, but just uses dark magic, hunk is the yellow lion, implied shallura, keith's good, klance eventually, lance is a good (boy)friend, most of this stuff is from tumblr, spallcasting, white haired keith
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-16
Updated: 2018-04-16
Packaged: 2019-04-23 02:13:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14322285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whale_shark_prince/pseuds/Whale_shark_prince
Summary: (a Voltron witch Au inspired by Kiilea's witch AU art) Keith is the newest addition to the squad of witches, shapeshifters and more. He's a fire witch who uses candle and fire magic.keith still can't control his magic completely without giving up his secret, which he can't do. It's one or the other. However, someone helps him see that it doesn't necessarily have to be.





	Candles and Crystals

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by kiilea’s witch AU (it's amazing! I'll include links to her Tumblr, store, and Instagram at the end) this is also for her 20K contest on Instagram

“Keith! Get up already!” 

Keith groaned as he got up off the floor, he must have fallen asleep practicing spells again. Wax from his candles had melted into the rug, the red ones were still burning. (he’d enchanted them to never melt) but his favorite violet one was now in a semi-molten heap on the floor.

“Dammit,” he cursed under his breath, the baby flames on the red candles wavered and then blew out. 

“Come on!” he heard Pidge yell from outside his room, the young, green Witch was always impatient to start training.

“Cool down. I'm almost ready,” Keith yelled back as he hastily cleaned up his candles and grabbed his cloak. Making sure his arm wraps were secure, and that nothing was showing, he quickly joined the others for training.

When he got to the open space in the forest they used to train, he saw that Lance already had his crystals splayed out around him each one glowed slightly as the sun charged them. Pidge had their wand out and was casting growth spells on the nearby ferns and vines and gave him a cheeky grin when they spotted him.

“Look who finally showed up,” Lance said under his breath, only opening an eye as he continued to meditate. “It’s fire boy.” a smile tugged at his lips.

“Oh shut up Lance,” Keith mumbled under his breath.

“Oh C'mon! I'm just kidding mullet.” Lance smiled, it made Keith heart beat just a little faster.

Keith sat down in the rocky part of the clearing. He didn't want to burn down anything today. He balanced his red black and orange candles on the rocks, carefully allowing tiny flames to dance from his fingertips, lighting the wicks of the candles. 

“You won't be using those today,” a voice above him said. He quickly looked up to see Allura, her white hair was braided back, revealing her pointy ears. She wore a devilish grin as she leaned down and teleported Keith's candles somewhere so he couldn't use them at all.

“Seriously? I need those,” Keith groaned. He knew what she was up to and he was not going to follow through with her plan.

“No, you don't. When I decided to bring you here it was because you were able to conjure a fire as hot as a dragon’s flame. If you could just harness that power-”

“Which I can't.” Keith interrupted the fairy.

“Which you can,” Allura continued, “you have a lot of power, Keith, but you just need to practice controlling it. There's no use for a witch who’s scared of his own magic.” Allura stood up and gestured for the fire witch to do the same.

Keith reluctantly stood as well. Now everyone was watching, even Shiro and the shape-shifter named Hunk, who was now taking on the appearance of a yellow lion.

“Now, remember what I taught you,” Allura said, gesturing at Lance to come closer. “Just in case something goes wrong,” she said after Keith glanced nervously at the other witch. “Hold your hands out, palms facing the sky.” Keith did as she said. “Good. Now let go of your fear. Feel the heat in your veins, harness that. Draw out your power from your core.” 

Allura slowly backed away from Keith. Lance stood defensively in front of her as flames started to wind their way around Keith's fingers, slowly growing in size and licking further up Keith's arms. 

“Allura? Am... Am I doing it right?” Keith called out nervously. 

“You're doing beautifully, Keith!” Allura yelled “just stay calm and focus, try to get the fire to do something for you.” the fairy suggested. Backing further away from Keith as the heat was becoming uncomfortable.

“Allura maybe we should take a break, he might lose control,” Lance advised their instructor.

“No. He’s learning from this.”

Keith continued to try to control the fire, he imagined it coming together into a ball of flames. He brought his hands up, almost like he was holding a sphere in his hands, forcing the fire into the shape he wanted. He shut his eyes tightly, putting all his strength into the fireball.

“Excellent Keith!” Allura cheered, jumping up and down. However, Keith didn't feel excellent at all.

“I can't hold it Allura! What do I do?” Keith yelled over his shoulder.

But before Allura could instruct him on what to do, Keith started to lose control. He panicked and the inferno exploded from the contained sphere into a spinning pillar of flames.

“Lance!” Keith screamed as the fire spun around him, faster and faster.

Lance took immediate action, his eyes glowed an unnatural blue colour as water from all over the clearing gathered together, and dumped itself onto the flames.

Keith, who was now soaked, fell onto his hands and knees, his clothes were singed but not too badly. He had blisters on the top of his hands but that was something Pidge could fix.

“Keith?” Shiro was the first one by his side, the others quickly followed suit. “Keith?” Shiro repeated when the raven-haired boy didn't respond.

“Yeah?” Keith groaned, sitting up. His head spun and he felt himself falling over before Shiro held him steady. His hands stung, but he didn't think much of it.

“You okay, mullet?” Lance’s eyes were glowing and it took Keith a few seconds to realize Lance was using his magic to soothe the burns on his hands. The clear liquid formed almost a second skin, just a thin layer of water over top of Keith’s hands.

“Yeah... Yeah, I think so.” Keith mumbled, brushing off Shiro’s attempt to help him stay steady on his feet.

Allura informed the group that training was done for the day. That was no surprise for anyone. 

“Pidge, could you please make something for Keith’s burns? And Lance can you continue with what you're doing?” Allura hastily instructed. 

Pidge scuttled off into their room, grabbing different plants and liquids. Their room was a disaster, but with the aid of a location spell, they were able to find everything they needed. Pidge’s room was almost like a greenhouse. Plants hung from the ceiling in pots, herbs grew on one wall and on the other was a vast shelf of different potions and just like a greenhouse the roof was made out of glass, allowing the sunlight into the room but also the stars at night. 

Once all the ingredients were collected they combined the ingredients in a mortar. First the honey, then the aloe vera, rosemary, and a lastly a few drops of lavender oil. Pidge ground all the components together with a pestle until it was a paste consistency. 

Meanwhile, some point between the clearing and the house, Keith completely drained of energy. He was still conscious, thank the gods, but his legs had given out. Lance, unable to carry Keith as well as perform his magic, had pleaded with Shiro to turn into his wolf form to transport him back to the house. Of course, Shiro refused. Instead, Hunk, who was plodding alongside them, gently nosed Shiro with his large head, his yellow mane ruffling with the movement.

“Oh yeah! Good idea buddy.” Lance said, scratching the spot just under Hunk’s chin. The lion let out a deep purr as Keith was sat on his broad shoulders, content that he'd found a way to help.

Lance and Shiro brought Keith back to the house. His cat, Red, following right behind them. Keith insisted he was fine, but the sin on his hands was read and clearly painful. As soon as Keith was properly situated on the couch and Red had curled up on his chest, purring contently, Lance retrieved some of his healing and energizing crystals. Shiro and Hunk stayed with Keith, who was fine, just slightly burnt and drained of energy, so… maybe not exactly fine, but he would be fairly soon.

Lance returned around the same time Pidge and Allura joined them in the living area, Pidge with their burn salve and Allura with some gauze and some other medical supplies. They all fussed over him and Keith hated it. It was his own fault he’d got burnt…

“Keith… we all want to help you. It's not your fault you can't fully control your magic yet. Please don't blame yourself for this.” Allura said softly, as she applied another bandage to Keith’s hand.

“Wha-”

“It's the earrings,” Lance stated, already knowing what Keith was going to ask. “They can pick up on nearby emotions. And yeah, please don’t feel bad about this. It’s given us a chance to use our skills a little differently.” Lance smiled down at Keith, his eyes stopped glowing as Pidge stared to apply the salve to Keith other hand. It stung at first but the honey and aloe vera soothed the irritated skin.

“Pidge, this stuff is amazing.” Kieth sighed as the pain eased away. Feeling more energized and in much less discomfort, Keith returned to his room after saying goodnight to everyone, red padding along next to him.

Even though Keith was tired, he was unable to fall asleep. Instead, he charged some of his sleeping crystals in the moonlight and worked on his glamour spell. He’d almost perfected it now. It lasted for around a day unless of course, Keith wanted to look like his natural state, which he never did. 

The only problem with this particular glamour is that part of his magic had to be invested at all times, making him weaker, or just unable to give one hundred percent of his magic to anything. If a spell or magic needed all of Keith’s magic, he would turn back to ‘normal’. 

Keith gathered his red candles and the shard of broken mirror that the spell required. Shutting his eyes, he chanted the spell

_Fire warm and Fire red, Charm the hair upon my head._

_As I will, it now shall be,_  
_By Fire, By Water, By Wind, and Tree._

Keith opened his eyes and looked in the mirror. The few white hairs had now turned back to black. He blew out his enchanted candles and re-hid the mirror. Keith hauled himself back into bed and started to pet Red, her soft orange and reddish fur shimmered slightly in the moonlight. She curled up next to him and purred as he scratched just under her chin.

Over the next few weeks, Keith practiced his fire magic. He was able to control certain amounts of flame but Allura kept pushing him for more. Always more. Eventually, Keith snapped and when Allura ordered him to try again, he channeled all his anger and frustration into the flames. They burned a dark, blood-red. 

Demonic magic. Allura recognized it immediately. Keith was able to control the flames, much to the fairy’s dismay. His eyes glowed purple, as the red, almost black flames burned around him.

After Keith had managed to calm the fire, and his eyes stopped glowing, Keith passed out, completely drained of energy, however, he wasn't burned this time.

Lance was in charge of him now, using his crystals and sigils to get the fire witch conscious again. 

When Keith awoke he saw Lance, asleep on his floor. Crystals were scattered around the room. Keith had to sneak outside to perform his glamour spell.

Now Allura wasn't really talking to Keith. One of the rules was never to use demonic magic, and Keith, unknowingly, had broken it. He’d tried apologizing, taking up extra training, but she wasn't having it, she really was a stubborn fairy. 

Deciding it would be safer for everyone else, Keith started practicing his fire magic at night, illuminating the clearing with dancing flames. Even Allura had to admit he’d improved over the weeks. 

“You're not using all of your power Keith!” she yelled as another ball of flames had escaped Keith control. “You need to be completely committed.” Keith tried again but couldn't keep the fire contained.

“I swear Keith you need to get this into your head-” but he didn't let Allura finish, instead he stormed off, back to the house.

Keith slammed the door to his room, causing red to jump off the bed. Grabbing the nearest pillow, Keith screamed into it. He was so frustrated and angry that it hurt. He tore off his arm wraps and the locket around his neck got thrown somewhere across his room. Keith sobbed, why was this so damn hard? Pidge was young, and yet they were able to control their magic so easily, Lance too.

Keith removed his face from the pillow as he felt Red’s warm body rub against his. She purred as Keith petted her silky coat. Another cat sat on the bed, Blue, Lance’s cat. A small, clear, crystal hung around her neck. 

“H-hey Blue.” Keith sighed, letting the tears fall down his face. The blue-ish gray feline marched over and sat herself down in Keith’s lap. Eventually, Keith lay down in his bed and fell asleep, Blue and Red curled up together at the end of his bed.

Keith woke up around the time everyone was starting to fall asleep. He took a look in the mirror on the wall across from him. The person he was looking at was someone he hadn't seen in a while. Most of his hair was white again, the black slowly fading, his eyes were a deep violet colour, his arms were covered in nasty scars. Gross. 

Keith performed his glamour spell again and watched as his hair turned back to the black colour he was used to. He re-wrapped his arms in cloth and looked around for the enchanted locket that changed the colour of his eyes to something more normal.

Unable to sleep, Keith left the house, but instead of going to the clearing he went to the lake.

The lake was beautiful, the stars swam on the reflective surface of the water. At least here he couldn't accidentally kill anyone. He practiced the things he knew he could do, he could weave fire between his fingers, he could cause a shower of sparks to surround him, he could make a wall of fire, but he couldn't harness its power. Not quite. But he was so close, he just knew it.

When Lance awoke in the morning it was quite early maybe around three in the morning, Blue, his cat, was anxiously flicking her tail.

“Hey girl, what's wrong?” 

Blue gracefully jumped off the bed and ran out of his room, Lance sloppily pulled on his favorite cloak and hat and followed Blue outside. She led him down the path to the lake.

“Blue, why did you bring me here? I swear if you caught the fish in here again I'm going to have some angry mermaids on my hands.” lace mumbled as he walked down towards the shore of the lake.

Instead of a pile of rainbow fish on the smooth rocks, he saw Keith, asleep and covered in ashes. 

“Keith?” Lance called out as he walked towards the other witch, stumbling as the rocks shifted under his weight. The stupid boy had fallen asleep on the beach. He was in for a surprise. 

Keith woke up to a face full of water, he spluttered and coughed but was surprised him the most was Lance’s worriedly standing over him. 

“Keith?” Lance’s eyes were focused on something right beside Keith, a shocked and confused look on his face. 

“Did you actually splash me with-”

“Dude, what's wrong with your ears?” Lance interrupted. 

“W-what?” Keith stammered, trying to pull his soaking wet hair back over his ears.

“Well… they're kinda pointy. I mean maybe some humans have pointy ears. They're not as long as Allura’s. they look like a mix between human and fairy.” Lance explained. “They're pretty cute.”

Keith blushed, his ears had never been called cute before. “You're… you’re not… you know…”

“Disgusted? Sickened? Revolted? Disappointed?” Lance smiled his dazzling smile, “of course not.”

“But-” Lance placed a finger to Keith’s lips, silencing him.

“I'm just glad you're okay. You've been really... I'm not sure… I guess you've just been kinda off lately.” Lance ran a hand through his hair awkwardly.

“I've been trying to control my magic.” Keith sighed, sitting down on the beach, patting a spot beside him. Lance sat down next to the fire witch and gently pulled the smaller boy into a side hug.

“You're doing just fine, it takes a while to figure it out.”

“Really?” Keith asked. He’d just assumed Lance had just been a natural.

“Oh yeah! It took me years to get close to where I am now. And even now I still have a long way to go.” Lance laughed, “man... I remember when I first started to use my water magic, oh boy… I might have flooded Allura’s bathroom.” 

Keith found himself lost in Lance’s eyes, the stars reflected in his eyes, and the way he gazed out over the lake’s surface just send a shiver down Keith’s spine. He was beautiful.

“Oh, are you cold?” Lance said, shrugging off the cloak he was wearing, before wrapping around Keith's shoulders, the hood fell over Keith’s face. That was probably a good thing since Keith was pretty sure he was blushing. It was Lance’s favorite cloak, the one that was bewitched to show the constellations in the sky above it, the stars constantly rotating on the silky fabric.

“Oh uh- thanks,” Keith mumbled, curling up on himself in embarrassment. The cloak smelled like salt and herbal tea, Keith guessed that’s what Lance smelled like since he’d never really been this close to Lance before.

“No problem” 

He sat like that for a while, watching the stars.

“Have you always lived with Allura and Shiro?” Keith asked out of the blue.

“No... I lived with my family for a while but then I heard about other people like me. I was the only magical one in my family, so I figured I would fit in better here.” Lance threw a rock into the water. “How ’bout you?”

“I’d rather not say,” Keith mumbled.

“Oh. Okay.” 

“Sorry,” Keith said softly.

“Nonono, it's okay.” Lance pulled Keith into a hug.

“I'm not usually like this-” Keith said, voice shaking, wiping tears out of his eyes. “I'm not usually so… weak.”

“You're not weak.” Lance said sternly, “you are so strong, Keith. Allura’s been nagging you so hard lately, I don't think I could have taken it.”

“Lance?”

“Yeah?”

“Did you ever lose control of your magic?” Keith asked.

“All the time,” Lance replied.

“But did you ever hurt someone? Or yourself?”

“I flooded my house once, it was terrifying.” Lance chuckled, “My Nana was so mad.”

“The first time I ever used mine, I burned myself so badly I needed to go to the hospital,” Keith whispered. 

“Oh… wow…”

“Yeah,” Keith smirked. “It sure scared the kids who were picking on me though.”

“Because of your adorable ears?”

“Well... Yeah. That and some other things.” there was an uncomfortable silence, which Lance broke.

“I was afraid of water.”

Keith couldn't help but laugh “really? Waterboy, afraid of his own element? You poor kid.”

“Don't patronize me like this.” Lance wined. “It was terrifying!”

“I'm sure it was.” Keith teased.

“Shut up,” Lance said, with no bite behind the words. “We should probably get back, breakfast’s in a few hours so maybe we can get some sleep before that.” Lance sprung up off the rocky ground. He then reached down and held his hand out to Keith. “C’mon lets get going.”

Keith was in a daze as Lance pulled him off the ground and basically pulled him back to the house. 

He. Held. Hands. With. Lance. McClain. 

“Why do you always wear these?” Lance gestured at the cloth wrapped around Keith’s arms as they stood in the hallway, just in front of Lance’s room. “I don't think I’ve ever seen you take them off.”

“Oh... Uh... Well, remember how I said I got burned…”

“Oh… oh.”

“Yeah... They're gross.” sighed Keith, fiddling with the edges of the fabric covering his hands. 

“I don't think so,” Lance said softly, just loud enough for Keith to hear.

“You haven't even seen them!” Keith shot back.

“I don't need to see them, but they're not gross. Nothing about you is gross.” Lance blushed slightly before saying a hasty goodnight and then hiding behind his door.

“Wait, Lance-” Keith stopped Lance’s door from shutting completely.

“Yeah?” Lance turned around to face the shorter boy, was… was that a hopeful look Keith saw flash across Lance’s face?

“Can I come in? I've never seen your room.” Keith shifted his weight nervously, was he overstepping? “I mean if you don't want me to that's ok.” Keith backpedaled.

“Nah, its fine man, sure you can.” Lance let him in, and Keith immediately fell in love with the room. A large opal crystal hung from the ceiling, casting little rainbows all over the floor and walls. There was an old bookshelf with numerous spell books and other random things of interest. But the thing that caught Keith’s eye was the gravity-defying swimming pool.

“Woah… is this even possible?” Keith’s jaw dropped as he looked more and more around the room. Since when did Lance have a sword? There were crystals everywhere, so many different sizes and colours. And bottles of different liquids. The room had a sort of organized messiness to it, like when you try and make things look random, but you’d actually spend hours finding just the right place for something. 

“Apparently” Lance chuckled, his eyes glowed as he made the water dance around like nothing Keith's ever seen before. They spent the rest of the time before breakfast in lance’s rooms, talking about their magic and Keith tried to find a scientific way to explain the pool in Lance's room, before Lance pointed out that they lived with a shapeshifter, werewolf, and a fairy so it was almost impossible to apply science to anything.

When it was time for training, Allura saved Keith's turn until the end. “Let’s see what you’ve got, Keith.”

He started off small, only baby flames flickered around Keith, it grew steadily until it the fire was at a stare before, little by little Keith let go of his glamour, and little by little his black hair turned/ white. 

Keith was able to control the fire from start to finish! He’d done it!

“Woah! Keith your hair’s white!” Lance yelled in excitement as he hugged the life force out of Keith.” it's so cute oh my god” he said only so loud Keith could hear it. Keith blushed like crazy and his behind a curtain of his long hair.

Soon everyone crowded around Keith and congratulated him and asked questions about why the heck his hair turned white.

“Well umm…” Keith looked to Lance for support. He got nothing but that from the other witch. “I'm part elf…” he removed the enchanted locket, allowing his eyes to change back to their violet shade, then he tucked some of his hair behind his ears, revealing the pointy tips. “My dad’s a human, I'm pretty sure, and my mom was an elf,” he explained, allowing his hair to fall back into his face, hiding his embarrassment as everyone processed the information.

“Why didn't you tell us?” Shiro asked, “Most of us aren’t human.” as he said this he wrapped his good arm around Allura’s shoulder. Even Hunk, who was now in his more human state, gave a curt nod in agreement. 

“Well, I'm glad you were able to control your magic!” Lance said loudly, wrapping an arm around Keith, “and now you don't have to utter glamour spells every night.” he whispered dangerously close to Keith. 

“How did you know about that?” Keith hissed at Lance once everyone else had left the clearing.

“Our rooms are right next to each other” Lance shrugged “it wasn’t my business to ask about it, so I didn't.” Lance smiled fondly, taking a step closer to Keith, “your eyes… they're gorgeous… and are those freckles?” Lance fake gasped, his hand clutching his chest.

Keith was a blushing mess, he turned his head away, unable to look at Lance. “N-no? I don't... I don't have freckles.”

“Yes, you do. They’re really pretty… like stars.” did Lance just compare his (nonexistent) freckles to one of the most beautiful things nature could offer? Had Pidge slipped a love potion into Lance’s tea this morning or something? 

“Hey. “ Lance said softly, cupping Keith’s face in his hand and made Keith look at him. “You are so beautiful. With scars, with white hair, and pointy ears. Those make you even more beautiful because they make you, you Keith.” Keith was sure he looked like a deer in headlights, eyes wide and had no idea what was about to hit him.

The two stood in the clearing, facing each other. Keith’s mind was racing, was this going to be his first kiss? Had he brushed his teeth? Oh god, what if Lance-

Lance gingerly pressed his lips to Keith’s, immediately turning Keith’s thoughts into mush. Forget hand-holding, this was the jackpot.

“Lance! Keith! Get your asses to the dinner table now!” Pidge yelled, lord they had a loud voice

After an amazing dinner, everyone turned in for bed. But around midnight there was a knock on Keith’s door. Keith reluctantly got out of his bed and opened his door, only to find a small box on the ground, just in front of his room, a scribbled not on the outside that had his name on it.

Keith looked around for who it could have been, not seeing anyone he brought the package back into his room. he pulled at the twine after sitting back down on his bed. When Keith opened the box he saw a pair of socks, but upon further investigation, they turned out to be a new pair. The fabric was just like the stuff Lance’s cloak was made of, the stars coming alive as Keith slipped the fingerless arm socks (according to the messy handwriting on the note) on. 

When Keith put them on they didn't fit, but that wouldn't be a problem, Keith could fix that, when he lowered his arms the fabric that was supposed to cover his arms sagged a bit, but Keith didn't care. For the first time in a while, he loved the way he looked, even if his hair still had the occasional black strand, even if the fabric on his arms didn't cover the places blue flames had scorched him, revealing the melted wax texture of his skin. 

He smiled down at the gloves he wore. He really hoped that they wouldn't burn up when Keith used his magic. Of course, he could always try to enchant them but Keith wasn't the best at that, maybe Allura could help him.

Keith fell asleep watching the stars twinkle across the silky fabric, his head filled with the excitement to show them off to everyone, making sure to embarrass Lance while he was at it.

**Author's Note:**

> kiilea's instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_kiilea/  
> Tumblr: http://kiilea.tumblr.com/  
> shop: https://society6.com/kinkypoptarte
> 
> (this isn't sponsored or anything (( I wish that would be amazing)) but I feel it's important to also link the artists' store)


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